On Wednesday a Blue-book was issued containing the Report of
the Committee appointed by the Army Council to investigate the question of sales and refunds to con- tractors in South Africa. The Committee, it will be remembered, consisted of Lieutenant-General Sir William Butler, Colonel Hadfield, Major Little, and Mr. H. J. Edwards. In a short. preface Mr. Arnold-Forster, while promising a full investigation, points out that the evidence is admittedly incomplete, that it has not been subjected to a legal scrutiny, and that therefore the conclusions cannot be regarded as a judicial finding. It is a Report on prim4.facie evidence, but it is not too, much to say that few more startling tales have been told to the public. Put shortly, the facts are these. After peace, a Sales Department was estab- lished at Pretoria under Colonel Morgan, of the Army Service Corps, to get rid of surplus Army stores. These stores were sold to certain contractors at ridiculously low prices, while at the same time new contracts were concluded with the same contractors, or their representatives, which enabled them to resell the same stores to the Army at a high profit. Mr. Frank Morgan, the brother of Colonel Morgan, was connected with several of these contracting firms, and this connection the Committee think largely. responsible for the scandals.
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